


Perspective

by detectivejigsaw



Category: Book of Life (2014)
Genre: Drabble, F/M, Forgiveness, Gods, Point of View, Romance, life and death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-06-01 07:12:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15137903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/detectivejigsaw/pseuds/detectivejigsaw
Summary: Small drabble speculating on why La Muerte was so quick to let Xibalba back into her heart at the end of the movie, kind of turns into small speculation on Xibalba's thought processes.





	Perspective

If you asked Carmen Sanchez, La Muerte had forgiven Xibalba for what he'd done to her son and his two best friends (now best friend and wife) far too easily.  
Heck, if you asked anyone in the Land of the Living or the Land of the Remembered, she'd forgiven him far too easily.  
Even Xibalba was willing to admit it-to himself and his wife, at least; if anyone else had dared suggest it in his presence, he would probably have either gone all closed off and moody, or demanded who'd asked them their opinion in a darkly hostile tone.  
Either way, though, many people felt that he'd done something completely unforgivable.

He'd killed a man, for heaven's sake-yes, _technically_ he'd tricked him into asking to die so he could be reunited with the love of his life, and it was the two-headed snake who had actually done the deed-but that was not the point. The snake had been acting on Xibalba's orders, and he had arranged things so that Manolo would want to die. That counted as murder, pure and simple. The fact was, though, that Xibalba and La Muerte were both gods. They'd been gods for a long time, and it meant that even though they were gods of death, they didn't think about life and death the way that humans did.

* * *

 

Human lives, once you'd been around for as many centuries as they had, were more or less a flash in the pan. Even La Muerte, who loved humans and held great hope for them despite all evidence to the contrary, didn't often see death as all that horrible-in fact, it made perfect sense for her to feel that way, because the deceased usually came to her realm, and would spend the rest of eternity in endless festivity and the joy of being reunited with lost loved ones. It was just like life, only better!

In a twisted kind of way, therefore, Xibalba had felt the same way about sending Manolo on his merry way to the Land of the Remembered. Even if his precious Maria wasn't going to be there, nearly all of his family was, so at least the boy wouldn't be alone. And this way Xibalba would win the bet with his wife-he and the boy would each get something they wanted, and everyone could be more or less happy.  
Well, except La Muerte, who would be stuck ruling the Land of the Forgotten...and don't think for a moment that he didn't feel guilt for it. Once again, though, he tried to rationalize. If anyone could bring joy and warmth to that cold, cheerless place, it would be her. She'd be a far better ruler than he was, she was good at caring for the poor and forgotten in a way he never had been. It would work.

...Of course, things hadn't turned out how he thought he wanted. But he had to admit, in a way they'd turned out better. Manolo did get what he wanted-his life back, Maria as his bride, a career as a musician ahead of him (rather than being forced to be a bullfighter by the expectations of his family and the people of San Angel), and his father’s respect. Xibalba, on the other hand, might still be stuck in charge of the gloomy Land of the Forgotten, but he also got something he wanted even more: he had his wife's love back-something he had not expected to ever have again.

He definitely had not expected her to forgive him at all, let alone so suddenly; he was still kind of afraid to ask why she had. He just enjoyed the opportunity to have her in his arms again, and worked to never betray her trust again.  
Because he meant what he'd said.  
She deserved better than him. So maybe he could try to be a little better.

**Author's Note:**

> I thought this through as best I could, and hopefully it makes sense. Don't get me wrong, I like Xibalba and La Muerte together, I think they're oddly adorable, but let's be honest, there's moments where Xibalba is seriously messed up.  
> ...Thoughts?
> 
> P.S. Sorry if the ending is a little cheesy, but hey, we all need a little cheese in our lives once in a while. Especially on pizza, decorated with slices of pepperoni and mixed with tomato sauce.


End file.
